Sunday, August 17, 2014

I am so happy to be posting this post! It has been so long... too long!

So here goes!

This past school year we heard that our building would be renovated over the summer. I had very mixed feelings over this. On one hand it would be nice to have some updated items, on the other hand I was worried that some of the architecture from our 1930's building would be lost. I am happy to say that the reno crew did a wonderful job! So, about a week and a half ago I was able to get into my classroom, unpack about 170 boxes, figure out where to put all of my stuff, and finally decorate! I worked from the Thursday before last to this past Monday trying to get it all done. I had meetings this past Monday and Tuesday and had all day Wed. to finish. (School started Thursday.) Thirty minutes before open house on Wed I printed out and laminated my last nametag! It was stressful and time consuming but kind of exciting to see it all come together! Ok, monologue done! On to the pictures!

I present my SUPER CLASSROOM!!

My Classroom Library.

The front of my room and my smartboard.

Side view of my room. (picture taken from in front of my smartboard.)

Back of my room. (picture taken from in front of my smartboard)

My word wall.

My area. Please ignore the mess. I was still unpacking and this was my last area to tackle. This is my guided reading area and my landing spot.

My bulletin board outside my room. I will spruce this up more when I have time1

Thursday, February 21, 2013

I recently taught a lesson in my K class on American Symbols. We discussed all the symbols, made brace maps, tree maps, and created several projects on each. I was feeling successful and the kiddos seemed happy and content and oh-so knowledgeable on the symbols of America! We were dismissing when one of my darlings said on his way out the door, "Why does the Statue of Liberty hold a laptop?" I gave him a quizzical look and he tried to clarify. "You know, you said she holds a tablet. Is it an Ipad?" Welcome to the 21st century Miss Liberty!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

I unexpectedly had the day off today! Our town's water pumps were not working which meant we had no water. I was very happy the district called the day off - can you just imagine trying to tell 25 five year old's that they can't go to the bathroom?

Anyway, I created a few smartboard files to share. I hope they are useful to you!

Monday, October 22, 2012

So I am having one of those quick conversations with one of my darlings. You know, the kind that pop up out of nowhere? Like when you are teaching about pumpkins and they tell you that their dog's name is Fred. Anyway, My darling says "I can do flips on my trampoline." I respond. "Really? I used to be able to do that to." Darling asks innocently, as he looks me up and down from head to toe, "Did you used to be skinny too?" Just gotta love the honesty of five year olds!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

So... it is a challenging year to say the least. But I am up for a challenge! (Kinda gotta be, I guess!) Lately we have focused on fire safety, scarecrows and Fall. Here are some charts we have made together. Each kiddo has their own sheet to fill out as we work together. I can't wait until we start sharing the pen - but for right now I will write for them. Here are some pics of our charts:

Here are a few pics of my darlings building and illustrating their predictable sentences on scarecrows.

So that's what is going on in our neck of the woods! On to pumpkins and Monsters!

Friday, October 5, 2012

Hello all! I have been MIA for some time! First there was no time because I was getting ready for school. Then I became Really involved with my new class. (Can we say, "Oh my what a year it will be!?!). Then it was on to softball games for one of my girls and now basketball for one of the others. O.K., I am done griping. I wanted to give you a little freebie to let you know I am glad to be back! This is a Smart Notebook file for basic sight word review. Hopefully you can use this in any of your upcoming spider units! Click below for you freebie! Leave me some comment love if you use it!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

So I know a million of you already have these and they are old news, but just indulge me for a moment.

I have to admit. I started these LAST summer. But I just couldn't get dear old hubby to cut the boards! So I waited and my little crates waited. In the garage. Getting dusty. And eventually they were a bit forgotten. Anyway, I saw the crates all over Pinterest again so I thought to myself, "Self. Ya gotta get these done this time!" So I needled, politely asked my darling hubby to cut some boards and this time we were successful! No more sad, forgotten, dusty crates. Check out my darlings below modeling improper use of the crates!

Hello! My name is Tessa I have two blogs on Blogger: Spotlight on Kindergarten and Kinderopolis! A little about me... This is my eighteenth year of teaching. This is my eleventh year in Kindergarten. I have also taught 2nd, 5th and 6th grade - but Kindergarten fits me best! I have a wonderful husband and four beautiful children. Their ages are 16, 14, 12 and 9. They keep me soooo busy - but I wouldn't trade it for the world.